Penguins at the South Pole (Evy Story 57)
by quietandsneaky
Summary: Tag to 9x07, "Bad Boys", which includes two-year-old Evy. When John picks up Dean from the boys home, he gets the full story of how Dean landed there. And it isn't what he thought.


**Disclaimer: The characters of Supernatural do not belong to me. The original character of Evelyn Winchester does.**

 **A/N: Tag to 9x07, "Bad Boys", that includes Evy. Dean explains to his father exactly why he was sent to the boys home. I'm rewatching some of my favorite Supernatural episodes, so more of these may possibly be coming :).**

The door to the boys' home shut behind him, and Dean felt a strange sense of sadness. His break from being a big brother, protector, father, and hunter was over. Sam, Evy, and John were in the car, and he was headed back to the life that, until a few weeks ago, he hadn't known could be any better. He thought about turning back around and taking Sonny up on his offer, when he heard a sound that made him change his mind.

"Deanie!"

Newly two-year-old Evy was in her carseat, legs kicking furiously and arms sticking out in the Evy gesture of 'get over here and hold me right now or suffer the consequences'. The consequences usually consisted of either whining and sticking her bottom lip until the person of her affections that particular moment gave in, or skipping the pleasantries and just going to outright crying until she was blue in the face. Sam lit up in a smile too, and got out so Dean could sit in the middle between him and Evy.

"Out, Deanie."

"You need to stay in your carseat." John said from the front seat.

"Out, Deanie." Evy repeated, undaunted by her father's command. "Out. Evy hug."

Dean knew it would draw at minimum a reproachful glance from his father, but he decided this time he could follow Evy's order and not John's. "Come here, baby girl."

As soon as her buckle was undone, Evy jumped and piled onto Dean. Sam joined in, and for a moment, in the back of Dean's mind, he had the fleeting thought _I missed you, my babies._ Dean buckled Evy back into her carseat after promising he wouldn't leave again, and spent the whole rest of the ride playing peek-a-boo with her. After putting her and Sam to bed, and making sure they were asleep, Dean finally had the dreaded confrontation with his father.

"Dean. You understand why I did this, don't you?"

"Yes, sir. You were trying to teach me a lesson." Dean said. "But can I be a hundred percent honest with you?"

John, taken back by Dean's stark yet still polite and respectful tone, nodded. "Sure, son."  
"I'm not entirely certain what that lesson was supposed to be."

"Dean, you lost food money gambling." John said. "You mean to tell me that you really don't understand that was wrong?"

Dean closed his eyes tight, trying to keep his temper reigned in. He knew that anything he had to say to John would have much more of an impact if he kept his cool versus if he really expressed his true feelings.

"Dad, do you know why I lost that money gambling? It's because I had to buy a heater."  
"What?" John asked. "What do you mean?"

"The night after you left, after I put Evy to bed and Sam was asleep, the heat went out. Sam woke me up holding Evy and it was twelve degrees inside the house. Sam had bundled her up and she was still shaking. I had to put her and Sam in bed with me and pile every blanket we had on top of us just so we could all stay warm." Dean said.

John, stunned and shamed to silence with this new information, said nothing.

"Evy was scared, wondering why it was so cold. I had to tell her we were playing a game, that we were penguins at the south pole. The next morning, I got up and went to the hardware store, bought the cheapest space heater I could find."

"Dean, why didn't you call me?" John asked. "Why didn't you call the manager of the building…?"  
"And risk him calling CPS and splitting the three of us up?" Dean asked. "And I did try to call you. Over and over for three days. You wouldn't pick up. Buying the heater left me with a little less than twenty bucks. But sure enough, Evy got sick from being too cold, so there went the rest of the money. I tried calling you, _again_ , and you still wouldn't pick up. And after that fight you had with Bobby, I figured you wouldn't want me calling him either."

"Dean…" John said, his anger rapidly starting to abate.

"So, Dad, I tried gambling with three bucks because I had two cold, hungry kids in the house and we were down to two pieces of bread. I hadn't eaten myself in two days, but when I lost that money, I tried stealing a loaf of bread, peanut butter, jelly, and children's Tylenol so that maybe, just maybe, Sam and Evy could sleep that night with a full stomach. So that's why I did it, Dad." Dean said, his never rising once, but with a resolve that scared John to the core of his being.

"Dean. I…I don't know what to say."

"I do." Dean prepared himself to lay down the verbal kill shot, so to speak. "The only lesson you taught me here, Dad, is that even after sixteen years of never disobeying a single order you've ever given me, if I make one single mistake, you're gonna dump me off. That might not be what you meant to teach me, but that's what I got out of it. So here's what I want _you_ to learn from this. I won't ever be in that position again. If you don't leave me plenty of money for food for not just Sam and Evy, but all three of us, I will call you. Once. If I don't hear from you in twenty-four hours, I call Bobby. If an emergency pops up, like the heat going out, or one of us getting sick or hurt, and I don't hear from you in _four_ hours, I call Bobby. And if I have to call Bobby, Dad, for either of those reasons, we stay there. We stay there and we don't come back. Understand, sir?"

John swallowed and nodded grimly. "I got it. It won't happen again, Dean. You have my word."

"I hope so, Dad. I really do." Dean said, turning to head to bed himself.

"Dean."

Dean turned around, expecting another lecture. What he got instead nearly took his breath away. John gathered his thoughts and tried to figure out the best way to express them. He wasn't and never had been an eloquent speaker, and he even surprised himself with what he had to say.

"I'm proud of you. I know I don't say that enough, but I am. You're a better man than I am, and a better father than I'll ever be. Thank you."

After recovering from the shock of such a compliment from his father, Dean simply said, "Good night, Dad."

"Good night, Dean." John said.

Dean walked into Sam's room, where Evy was sleeping curled into Sam's side. He no longer regretted coming back with John, if only because it meant he could keep a closer eye on Evy and Sam. He had numbed himself while gone to how much he missed them. He leaned over and kissed Evy's cheek, and even risked one to Sam's as well.  
"Good night, you two. I love you."


End file.
